Doing climate change risk assessment well: practical challenges and opportunities

As exemplified by the release of Australia’s National Climate Risk Assessment, climate change risk assessments are underway across the country - a vital step in kick starting, tracking and adjusting adaptation from the organisational to the national level. But doing such assessments well is far from straight-forward. Expectations and standards around climate change risk assessments are evolving rapidly, expanding the number of factors (e.g. indirect climate change risks, social vulnerabilities) and voices (e.g. local community members) to be included, among other things.

At the same time, climate change risk assessments are increasingly being undertaken in situations themselves marked by the sort of pressures climate change exacerbates: limited time, resources and attention spans, constrained institutional settings, and complex, dynamic environments - including other people’s climate change responses. How to assess and reassess climate change risks in meaningful ways in such situations is far from easy. 

To help practitioners think through different approaches and to help researchers appreciate the practical realities of doing climate change risk assessments, this event brings together a range of practitioners to explore the varied ways their organisations are tackling such assessments. By sharing their recent, real world experiences, the panel will illuminate the decisions practitioners have to face along the way, such as how to: define goals, scope risks, balance hazard- and vulnerability-based approaches, incorporate different types of data and knowledge, and use the assessment process to engage stakeholders and build capacity. 

What you'll walk away with

This session, hosted by the Climate Change Exchange, invites practitioners, policy makers, and researchers into a nuanced conversation about the challenges and opportunities of doing climate risk assessments well in Australia. 

More than a 101 on how to do a climate change risk assessment, the session will look at the challenges and opportunities involved. It will draw out the pragmatic and institutional factors that shape how assessments are undertaken and the pros and cons of different ways of tackling the task in order to help others reflect on and advance their own climate change risk assessment and reassessment efforts.